The New Gryffindor Princess
by PrincessDaydream77
Summary: Professor McGonagall, the Queen of Gryffindor, has been in control of all situations in her fifteen years as Head of the Lion House. But when a teenage girl named Merida Roslynne arrives after being expelled from Beauxbattons, Minerva has more than one problem when she has to deal with the new Gryffindor princess. Minerva is about the same age as the Marauders in this fic.
1. Here Comes Trouble

The New Gryffindor Princess

Summary: Professor McGonagall, the Queen of Gryffindor, has been in control of all situations in her fifteen years as Head of the Lion House. But when a teenage girl named Merida Roslynne arrives after being expelled from Beauxbattons, Minerva has more than one problem when she has to deal with the new Gryffindor princess. Minerva is about the same age as the Marauders in this fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except Merida.

Chapter One

Aside from the great Professor Albus Dumbledore himself, Professor Minerva McGonagall was the most highly recognised authoritarian figure in the entire of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had been in her post as Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor for nigh on twenty years and she had never been happier to work, especially since the end of her previous job at the Ministry of Magic, shortly followed by the tragic death of her husband, Elphinstone Urquart. But she had carried on and built up her life again. She'd had everything under control. 'Had' being the operative word.

She had been teaching her fifth year Tranfiguration class to vanish snails when a knock came at the door. Minerva instructed the class on how to perform the charm once more, then went to answer the door. She was surprised to see Headmaster Dumbledore himself standing in the corridor facing her.

"Albus! What can I do for you?" she asked, closing the door behind her and turning to face the elder man.

"Minerva, we have a situation that you need to come and deal with, please." explained Albus, looking over the top of his half-moon spectacles at his long-term colleague.

"Oh, what is it?" asked a curious Minerva, wondering which first-years had been tricked into playing with the Giant Squid this time. Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins were notorious for being misleading to innocent first-years. The boy was supposed to be a Slytherin Prefect for Godric's sake.

"I think you should come and see for yourself." he finished, leading the woman towards the Transfiguration courtyard. Once they emerged into the midday air, the first thing the woman saw was a girl sitting on one of the benches. She had bright auburn hair which shimmered in the sunlight, a fitted purple jumper, some black jeans and purple ballet pumps. She looked amazingly familiar to the Head of House, even with her hair covering her face, but it was when Dumbledore addressed the girl and she answered that Minerva McGonagall could no longer conceal a gasp.

"Would you like to come here, child?" called Dumbledore. The girl rose to her feet in silence, her red-brown hair reflecting the light onto the stone. Minerva's mouth dropped open in shock as the girl's auburn waves fell away from her face, revealing Minerva's features mirrored in her delicate, heart-shaped face.

"Merida?" breathed McGonagall, staring at the girl's emerald green eyes. The girl replied in a Scottish accent a little softer than the stern woman's.

"Hello, Mum."

A/N: Just wanted to get this story off the ground, sorry for the short chapter. Please let me know if it's good, or bad, just so I know. Constructive criticism welcome, as always, as well as any praise or queries and questions. Should I continue?


	2. Coming Home

Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks to my magical Guest reviewer, helen. This is for you.

Minerva's mouth was still wide open as she looked at the girl, who herself was gazing towards the cobbles of the courtyard. Finally, the silence was so tense that Minerva felt forced to break it, finding a conversation point in the crash coming from her unsupervised classroom.

"Albus, could you go and keep an eye on my fifth-years please? I have no idea what they're doing in there but I'm certain it's not what I've asked them to do." she asked, her voice so forced that it sounded as if she may have lost it in the moment.

"Of course, Minerva. You talk with young Merida for as long as you want." replied Dumbledore, heading straight for the Transfiguration classroom. Once they were alone, the silence fell once more between the two. This time, it was Merida that broke it.

"I'm sorry, Mum." she whispered.

"No, it's alright, darling. I was just a little shocked when I saw you here, that's all. You're meant to be at Beauxbattons, it's term-time." returned Minerva.

"I hate it there, Mum, you know I do. Why can't I go to school here?" moaned Merida, her eyes pleading with her mother.

"You can't go to school here, Merida. It'll introduce prejudice and to be honest, Hogwarts isn't exactly the safest place in the world right now."

"But how can it not be? You've got Dumbledore! He's the only person in the entire world that You-Know-Who is scared of. And I hardly ever see you any more. This way, I get to stay with my family."

"Well, what about Vevina? She's in Beauxbattons, isn't she?"

"She's four years older than me, Mum, she's just graduated. I've got no one else left, except Uncle Malcolm and Granny and she doesn't like me doing magic, so my grades slip over the holidays. I don't understand why she does it, she's a Pureblood. She's been doing magic her whole life."

"Just because she's a Pureblood doesn't mean that she has always been able to do magic. My mother had to lock away her wand while she was married, so she still frowns upon using magic in her house." explained Minerva, patting her young daughter on the back gently.

"Then why can't I stay with you?" she repeated, looking her mother in the eye, attempting to make her crack first. Minerva still refused to back down.

"Merida, you don't have a place at Hogwarts, you know that. You can't come here."

"But I do, Mum! I do have a place here! The professor told me that you skipped my name on the list when you sent out the letters, then sent me to Beauxbattons with Vevi instead! He kept my place, Mum. I can stay, he said so!" she finished, gasping for breath a little after her outburst. Minerva looked to be at a loss for words, staring at her daughter. Suddenly, her maternal instincts hit her and she saw the tears glistening in the young girl's eyes, so similar to her own.

"Oh, darling. If you promise me that you will behave and that you will not let me down-"

"I won't, Mum, I promise!" she cried.

"Then you can stay here with me. But I'll expect you to pull your weight in class, and you won't have my name while in class."

"Then what will my name actually be?" asked Merida, as the pair began to walk arm in arm towards the castle.

"Your father's?" Minerva suggested, looking towards her daughter's face to guage her response. It wasn't good.

"Mum, no offence, but being a feminist wasn't the only reason you didn't take Dad's name and it wasn't the only reason you didn't give it to me either!" the younger pointed out.

"Fair point. What about your grandmother's maiden name?"

"Merida Ross. I like it."

"Yes and it might keep the Slytherins off your back a little, considering that she is a Pureblood."

"And a Blood Traitor. To them, anyway."

"Well, it'll do for now. Come on, darling." she beckoned, leading her daughter towards her office. This could be a long year.

A/N: Wanted to get the next one up soon, they'll be a bit longer once I've finished setting it up. Tell me what you think, I beg you!


	3. Meeting Ginny

Chapter Three

A/N: Thanks to my reviewer, MusingTabby.

Merida had spent the night in the spare bedroom situated in Professor McGonagall's private quarters and the redhead had awoken that morning surrounded by new things.

Laid out on the desk were about four dozen leafs of parchment, three bottles of ink, five quill pens and a large pile of books, with a satchel resting on the chair in front of the rosewood desk. As she hauled herself out of bed to survey the array of objects, she caught sight of two leaves of parchment set apart from the rest. The one on top, she spotted straight away, had her school timetable inked onto it. The other, which she had pulled out from underneath, had a message scrawled on it in red ink.

_Dear Merida,  
If you are reading this note at eight o'clock in the morning, stop reading it and get dressed because you are going to be late for breakfast!  
Other than that, have a brilliant first day, darling,  
Lots of love,  
Mum._

Merida laughed out loud as she read, then realised the importance of her words and scrambled across the room to her wardrobe. Flinging it open, Merida gaped for a moment before reaching through the rosewood doors and pulling out her new uniform for the day, which consisted of a white shirt, a black skirt and tights, a grey cardigan and a robe and tie, each bearing the colours of her new house, Gryffindor, which she had been sorted into by the Sorting Hat the previous evening. She dressed quickly, then grabbed her newly packed satchel and flung herself through the door, bolting for the Great Hall.

It took Merida another quarter of an hour before she reached the table, her face flushed as she sat down and helped herself to a soft-boiled egg. She spent most of the time looking up at the staff table, where her mother was sat, deep in conversation with the Charms master, Professor Flitwick. In fact, Merida was concentrating so hard on her mother that she didn't notice that most everyone had left the Great Hall to go to their lessons. When she finally noticed, she jumped to her feet, gasping as she bumped into another redheaded girl, knocking them both a little off balance. When they'd recovered, it was the girl who broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, I'm quite clumsy sometimes."

"Don't worry, so am I, it was my fault, really." replied Merida. A look of deep interest crossed the girl's face.

"Are you Scottish?" she asked, seeming genuinely interested.

"Native, yeah. Even my name has a Scottish influence."

"What is it?"

"Merida. It's the name of a fiery Scottish princess. My mum loves fairytales, really." she smiled. The girl's face flashed with something that looked like realisation.

"You're Merida? Merida Ross?" asked the girl. Merida stood in confusion for a moment, forgetting her new name, before sighing for a little as she realised what she meant.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I am. Who are you?" asked the Scottish girl, cringing a little at how rude the question sounded outside of her head.

"My name's Ginny, Ginny Weasley. Our Head of House, Professor McGonagall, asked me to show you around and help you with anything, really. We're in the same year and house, so we'll have all the same classes."

"Thanks. I think that'd really help me." Merida smiled.

"Okay, so what've we got first?" Ginny asked, noticing that Merida still had her timetable on the table. The Scottish girl scanned it for a moment, before tapping one point of the parchment.

"Potions, with Professor Snape. Oh, and Ginny?"

"Yes?" the girl replied.

"Seeing as Ginny is a nickname, can you please not call me Merida?"

"Okay, Meri."

"Let's go." both said in unison, laughing a little as they began to walk from the hall, arm in arm as new best friends.

Finally, Merida felt that she truly belonged at Hogwarts.

A/N: Review!


	4. Having Enough

Chapter Four

A/N: Thanks to my only reviewer for the last chapter, Riding-Lover-17.

Meri and Ginny walked arm in arm all the way to their first lesson, laughing and talking together as if they had known each other for years. Once they had decended the staircase leading to the dungeons, they were greeted with a sight they really did not want to see.

Three older Slytherin boys were swaggering around towards a girl from the year below, taunting her and sniggering. Beside Meri, Ginny seemed to start fuming. Unable to contain her anger, the elder girl stormed over to them, stepping right between the boys and the Ravenclaw girl.

"Oi, Slytherins! Leave her alone." she stated fiercely. The hallway merely erupted with laughter.

"Oh, yeah? Well, what're you going to do about it, Weasley?" asked a tall blonde boy with a pale, pointed face.

"Just do it! Leave her alone!" Meri yelled, bringing the boys' attention to her. Their laughs intensified.

"So, you're the new girl, are you?" asked the blonde boy, beginning to swagger towards her, his cronies following him, while Ginny and the Ravenclaw looked on in worry.

"So what if I am?" replied Meri, staring the boy straight in the eye, not letting her nerves get the better of her.

"Ooh, fighting talk!" laughed one of the blonde boy's cronies, a short, stocky boy with a pie in his hand.

"What're you going to do to us, you stupid little Blood Traitor?!" cried the blonde boy, laughing along with the others, while Merida's face glowed a bright fuchsia in her anger.

"I'm not stupid, I'm not little and I'm not a Blood Traitor, because I'm not a Pureblood and I'm proud that I'm not, because the Pureblood families who believe in Blood Traitors are the stupid ones. They're vile, cruel and pathetic." she finished, a little venom creeping into her voice. The blonde boy raised his wand to her chest and promptly sent a Stunning spell flying toward her, which she just managed to avoid by jumping out of the way. She retailiated by sending a well-aimed Bat Bogey Hex at his face. He didn't have as quick reactions as she did and the three girls were laughing uncontrollably at the result when the classroom door opened and a dark-haired man with a hook nose strode into the corridor.

"What is going on here?" he demanded, staring from the Gryffindor girls to the Slytherin boys, the middle of which had miniature bats shooting from his nose.

"It was them!" cried the boy with a fresh pie in his hand, as he had finished three while the blonde was speaking to the girls. "Those Gryffindors cursed him!"

The man turned to face the two redheads, the elder of whom had her arm around the shaking Ravenclaw, a stormy glare sweeping across his face.

"Is there truth in this accusation?" he asked, every syllable striking their fear to a higher pitch. Both girls remained silent.

"Well?!" he pressed on, his voice becoming harsher by the second.

"Professor, it was my fault. I attacked him, not Ginny. She was just trying to protect her friend." admitted Merida, her gaze directed to the floor.

"I appreciate your honestly, Miss Ross." replied the professor, his voice barely softening at all, while the Slytherins all sniggered a little behind him. "However, it does not change the fact that you attacked another student, Miss Ross, so I shall ask both yourself and Miss Weasley to accompany me to the Headmaster's office."

"Yes, Professor." sighed the two girls, sharing a guilty glance before following the hook-nosed professor up the dungeon steps. They walked in silence behind the man, sharing quick glances every so often, until the golden gargoyle appeared in front of them. Whispering with venom two words which sounded like 'flying saucers', the hook-nosed man pushed the girls onto the staircase, stepping onto a step a bit below them as the staircase began to twist and move upwards. A few moments later, when the trio had reached the top, the man stopped the pair of them.

"Your Head of House shall be arriving momentarily. Miss Weasley, please wait outside the door. Miss Ross, could you please accompany me into the office?" Even though his words were in question form, Merida could tell that she had no choice in the matter and so stepped inside Professor Dumbledore's office, sharing one last sympathetic glance with Ginny as she walked.

The white-haired man sitting at the desk raised his glance from the paper strewn across it, looking over his half moon spectacles to see the professor marching Merida into the office.

"Professor Snape?" questioned Dumbledore, rising from his desk, though not stepping around it.

"Headmaster." greeted the man Merida now knew to be the fiendish Professor Snape.

"Why have you brought Miss Ross to my office today?" the Headmaster asked, looking directly at Merida, who was now standing about a metre from the desk.

"Headmaster, Miss Ross attacked Mr. Malfoy in the corridor outside my Potions classroom. She aimed a Bat-Bogey Hex at the boy for no apparant reason and caused him a great amount of pain. I believe that she should be severely punished for this, as it is a blatant disregard for the rules of this school, so I have brought her to you, for you to pass judgement on her." Merida hung her head in shame, her neck bending more and more with every few words.

"Miss Ross, is this true?" Dumbledore questioned, removing his glasses and placing them down on the table.

"Actually, it isn't entirely, Professor. It wasn't for no reason. He was bullying a Ravenclaw girl, so Ginny went over to help her, then I went to help her, he started insulting me and... well, I sort of lost it, to be honest."

"So, you were not unprovoked, but the rest of Professor Snape's summary was correct?"

"Yes, Professor. I did attack Mr. Malfoy."

"You did what?" came a voice from the doorway. Merida froze in fear as she heard it, turning her head gingerly over her shoulder to see her mother walking slowly across the room.

"Well?" she demanded, rounding on her daughter.

"I attacked Malfoy in the corridor." Merida spoke in a quiet voice, avoiding her mother's eyeline. An exasperated sigh from the Scottish professor followed soon after, prompting Merida's eyes to squeeze closed in embarrassment.

"Oh, Merida! What have I told you right from the beginning? Do not retaliate to anyone!"

"But-"

"No matter what! I have had enough of it, Meri! When this Christmas holiday comes around, you are going home."

"What?!" Merida cried, her head snapping up to stare at her mother.

"You heard me. You are going to your grandmother's, you are not staying here under any circumstances."

"Oh, I get it. You don't want me here, then fine. I'll go home, to Vevi and Granny and Uncle Malcolm, you know, all the people who actually care about me."

"Meri, don't twist this-"

"No! I'm not twisting anything! Every single year you have been too busy for Christmas. You have never had enough time for family, never had enough time for me! I thought this year might be different, but no, you've let me down again, just like always!" Merida seized her satchel and made for the door.

"Merida!" Minerva began to yell.

"No! I'm done with this, Mum! I'm done with you." Merida finished quietly, running through the door and shutting it firmly behind her. She collapsed down on the staircase a moment later, resting her head in her lap. It was then that another redheaded Gryffindor girl sat down beside her on the steps.

"Mum?" asked Ginny.

A/N: Next chapter up soon, fingers crossed. Also, a romance is on the brew, wonder if anyone can guess. Review!


	5. Christmas Resolutions

Chapter Five

A/N: Thanks to my brilliant reviewers, Riding-Lover-17, dream-on-sunday and Karli.

The weeks leading up to Christmas passed far quicker than first thought and soon the holidays were upon them. However, despite regaining speaking terms with her daughter, Minerva had not let up on her punishment and Merida was still being made to return home to her grandmother's house for Christmas.

Though she truly loved Reay, the small village in which she had grown up, Christmas was still not quite the same without the comforting presence of her mother, something that she had not had for quite some time in the Yuletide season.

After bidding a slightly tearful farewell to her mother, who she had not been separated from since September, Merida McGonagall stepped from the common room and, just minutes later, left the castle walls.

Joining the crowds of students bidding farewell to their friends in the Entrance Courtyard, Merida began to search for the two people she wanted to say goodbye to. After half a minute of pushing through a group of squabbling Ravenclaws, she reached the pair of girls she was looking for.

"Ginny, Luna!" Merida cried, running to embrace the two girls, who had finally fought through the crowd of Hufflepuffs in front of them to reach her. "Oh my Godric, girls, I'm going to miss you so much!"

"But aren't you coming back, Meri?" Luna asked, in her usual dreamy tone.

"Of course I am, Luna! But I'm not coming on the train. I won't see you until next term now."

"Did your mum decide to let you stay, then?" Ginny asked. After the incident in Dumbledore's office, which the young Weasley had overheard, Merida had decided to reveal the whole story of her family to her best friend. She had also told Luna of her parentage, deciding immediately that the girl would keep her secret. The girl herself now donned a saddened expression, as Merida shook her head in disappointment.

"No. I'm still going home. My cousin's coming up to get me after the train's gone."

"Oh." Ginny sighed, turning towards where Argus Filch was ushering the students that remained towards Hogsmeade station with his usual downtrodden expression on his face, his feline friend, Mrs. Norris, echoing it with astounding accuracy.

"It's Filch! Meri, we have to go. He'll give us detention next term, you know what he's like." Ginny explained apologetically.

"I know." Merida replied. "It's alright, just go. I don't want you guys to get detention because of me."

"Are you sure?" the Weasley asked.

"Of course I am. Go on, I'll see you next term. Merry Christmas."

"You too, Meri. Goodbye!" Luna shouted over her shoulder as she and Ginny hurried forwards to join the masses on their way to the station, while Merida was left cold and alone in the doorway, the loud sigh that she let escape from her mouth the only noise clearly audible in the place.

"Well, it's a bit dead around here, isn't it?" came a voice from behind her, just inside the porch of the Entrance Hall. A beaming smile spread across the young redhead's face as she spun on the spot to face the brunette woman standing a few paces behind her.

"Vevi!" Merida exclaimed, running towards the woman and throwing her arms around her neck, the force of her embrace knocking Vevina back a step.

"Well, hello to you too!" she exclaimed, laughed at her younger cousin. "How's my little redheaded bombshell, then?"

"I'm alright, I suppose." Merida shrugged, a little more reserved, due to the question she knew Vevina was going to ask. A moment later, she did.

"Where's Auntie Minnie?" the brunette questioned, not knowing that her aunt was the cause of Merida's quietness.

"She's not coming. As usual. I was meant to be staying at Hogwarts with her, but she decided I'd let her down, so she sent me home."

"Auntie Minnie doesn't get mad. Merlin, what did you do?" the elder asked, her mouth wide open in shock.

"I screamed at three Slytherins, hexed one of them and got marched to the Headmaster's office. On my first day."

"Ouch." Vevina winced, biting one side of her lip to show her point.

"Yeah. So… can we just go? I don't really want to be here any longer."

"Of course we can. Let's go." Vevina suggested, taking her cousin's hand and walking briskly towards the gate of the castle. Merida struggled to keep up at first, but she was glad of it, as it meant she could get away from the castle far sooner.

After five minutes of walking to the gate, a quick Disapparition and fifteen more minutes after that, due to the wards around the place, Vevina and Merida finally reached the outskirts of Reay. For Merida, there had not been a more welcome sight since she had been in the Headmaster's Office all those weeks ago.

Another five minutes and there were standing just outside the front door of their grandmother's cottage. It was a very homely place, a creamy colour with a thatched room, trellises of peonies lining the wall, charmed to stay alive, despite the layers of snow all around. It was like a picture from a painting, or a postcard, it didn't seem real. But it was, and it was home.

Vevina put her key into the lock and turned it, stepping aside for Merida to enter first. She walked into the hallway hesitantly, expecting to have someone come and greet her, to enter an atmosphere of noise and fun, as the house had always had. But there was nothing like that. Just silence.

"Oh, they've gone out for a little while. They should be back by tea time." Vevina stopped, jumping almost a foot into the air as a knock sounded at the door. She had practically collapsed onto the sofa as it echoed through the hallway, so Merida decided to answer it herself. '_It's probably Uncle Malcolm, Granny maybe_.' she thought, turning the key and swinging open the door. However, the figure, her hat covered in a good half inch of snow, was not the one that Merida had expected to see.

"Mum?" she asked, as her eyebrows rose a little in annoyance.

"Room for a guilty mother in the house?" Minerva asked, laughing feebly at her joke. Merida paused for a moment, weighing up her options before her face broke out in a wide smile.

"Forgiven?" she asked her mother.

"Forgiven."

And so, for the first time, Minerva spent Christmas at home with her family. And she had never had a better one.

A/N: I am writing this well after I should be in bed, so I hope you'll excuse any mistakes, or point them out to me. Either way, please review!


	6. An Unlikely Friendship

Chapter Six

A/N: Thanks, dream-on-sunday, as always.

After the Christmas holidays had finished, the relationship between Merida and her mother had been improved no end. However, one thing that still infuriated the woman was that her daughter still refused to behave herself.

It wasn't that the girl didn't care about pleasing her mother, not at all, but she just found that being constantly under the woman's watchful eye made her day to day life so incredibly boring.

Besides, she wouldn't misbehave in Potions if Professor Snape was not so prejudiced against her. Ginny had repeatedly assured her that he hated all Gryffindors on principle, but that was not something Merida was going to let him get away with. If he wanted to mess with the Lions, the Lions were going to bite back.

That was the reasoning behind the well-developed prank she was going to play on the man, one which she had been assisted with by her best friend's brothers, Fred and George, who were the most renowned for playing trick on teachers in all of Hogwarts. Or so they had told her.

The prank involved a Skiving Snackbox, three Gryffindors holding a grudge and a certain prejudiced hook nosed professor. Ginny had sworn off becoming involved, Luna had been busy with an article for _The Quibbler_ that she was doing for her father, and Harry, Ron and Hermione had decided that they didn't need any more attention drawn to themselves, as they were already just as famous for being in trouble as the twins were. Still, at least they had three of them, and that was enough.

The trio now sat flush against one of the dungeon walls, right around the corner from where the bat like professor was now sweeping into his office, completely unaware that there was a healthy sized batch of Fever Fudge sitting on the desk, signed to him by Professor Sinistra, on whom the professor had been rumoured to have a crush. Whether he did or not, his reaction to the sweets would be utterly priceless.

Unfortunately, the three had been so absorbed in plotting how to permanently capture the image of his facial expressions for future blackmail purposes, they didn't notice that the very same man had caught onto their prank and was making his way very slowly towards the door of the cold stone building, just moments away from catching all three Gryffindors in the act.

Luckily, a dozen seconds at most before he would do so, Merida heard the clip of his boots against the floor.

"Fred. Fred, George! He's coming! We have to go, he'll catch us!" the girl exclaimed, her usually gentle Scottish accent becoming rugged out of fear. The twins behind her nodded and bolted down the corridor, leaving Merida breathing heavily in their wake. Luckily, she had never been a complacent person, nor had she ever been a procrastinator, and so she ran after them, just clipping the corner of the wall as she sprinted around it, unfortunately just a moment too slowly, as Snape just caught sight of the edge of her skirt as she turned.

It took Merida all of ten seconds to realise that the man was following her. '_Oh no!_' she thought, beginning to panic inside her own head. '_If he catches me and sends me to Dumbledore, godfather or not, I will be out of here so fast Mum will hardly see me go. I'll need a miracle to get out of this one._'

Out of nowhere, as if as an answer to her prayers, a quiet voice sounded through the silence.

"Oi!" The whisper was urgent, yet seemed strangely inviting.

'_That might be because of the probability of impending doom, though._' Merida reasoned with herself. '_Anything would be inviting to me right now._'

"Oi!" it sounded again, yet more urgent. "Come in here, otherwise he'll see you! Come on!"

Seeing very few other options, for once in her life, Merida decided to do as she was told. She had slammed the door a little more loudly than she would have liked, but at least quietly enough so that Snape did not hear, and walked away.

With a huge sigh of relief, Merida opened her eyes to take in her surroundings, though she did not really remember closing them. The first thing she noticed was the green light that filled the place, through the sole window in it. The room was furnished with emerald and rosewood, making it completely obvious which House it belonged to, though down in the dungeons, it was the most obvious choice.

But it was her saviour that was the most surprising. In fact, it was the last person she would have expected at all.

"Thanks." Merida managed to breathe, still recovering from the shock of the recent events. The young man in front of her did nothing but nod. "You just saved me from being expelled."

"Well, I wouldn't want to face the wrath of McGonagall, and I wouldn't want to wish that on anyone else. Even on a Gryffindor." he ended, with a trace of sneer behind his cheeky smirk.

"Even on me? We didn't exactly have the best introduction in the world." she pointed out, smiling just a little at the memory of their first meeting. The boy did the same.

"No, but it was certainly memorable!" A short pause followed the statement, before the blonde spoke again. "Listen, um…"

"Merida." she told him, to which he nodded his head.

"Merida… I didn't want for you to get into trouble. I was bullying your friend, so you hexed me. I would've done the same for one of my friends. Well, if I had any friends, that is."

"But… what about those boys you were hanging around with?" Merida asked, her confusion clear.

"They aren't my friends. They're just people who stay on my good side because of the influence my father has at the Ministry. That isn't friendship." he finished with a sigh. Merida considered for a moment what she was about to say, knowing that she would not be able to take it back.

"Do you want to be my friend?" It did not surprise the Scottish girl when the blonde threw his head back and laughed.

"Why would a Gryffindor want to be the friend of a Slytherin?" he asked her, a trace of a smile still remaining on his face.

"I don't know, but this Gryffindor does. So, do you want to be my friend?" the redhead repeated, though this time the boy did not laugh.

"Alright." he said. "But if we are to be friends, we should start again."

"Agreed." she responded, nodding her head, and held out her hand for the Slytherin to shake. "Merida Ross."

The boy shook her hand and spoke in response.

"Draco Malfoy."

A/N: Update number ten! How good am I this week! Please review and I'll try to equal it next week.


	7. Betrayer and Saviour

Chapter Seven

A/N: No reviewers.

For once in her life, Merida had decided to behave for every teacher. Now that she had her mother around, and had another new friend, she did not want anything at all to ruin that. It was worth sacrificing a little fun in lessons to do. Even worth paying attention to Snape.

Another new thing in her life had also caused her to keep a low profile. Over the past few weeks, the young Scottish girl had become involved in a new Defence Against the Dark Arts group, headed up by her friends, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and a few of the other Gryffindor fifth years. The secretive society had been meeting in various different places, most recently The Hog's Head, where quite a few more members had been added to the group of fifth years, in support of Harry and his words.

Despite the keeping of the secret being imperative, Merida had come to trust her new friend, Draco, to the point where she had informed him of her involvement with the group. After all, he had told her a few secrets about Slytherin House and his life within it, so it seemed to be only fair that she did the same.

One day, as a topic in their conversation, Draco had asked his friend a simple question, though it was one that had caused the Scot to pause for thought. '_So, where do you meet for this club?'_

At first, Merida was extremely apprehensive about telling the boy, given the secretive nature of the place. After all, all of her friends had said that the DA was not to be talked about, under any circumstances, to outsiders, for fear that Umbridge, the evil Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would find out about their organisation and would stop them from practicing, something that was hardly an option, what with Lord Voldemort being on the rise once more.

But eventually, she had given in, and she had told Draco all about Dumbledore's Army, including where they had met for their practices recently. At the time, she had never thought that he would even think of betraying her trust, by conveying the information to his friends, or even to Umbridge. How wrong she had been.

In the meeting that day, they had been practicing a Stunning Spell, both theory and in practice. They had partnered up, Merida partnering with Ginny, and each had practiced trying to Stun the other first. It had been a brilliant activity, and all of them had learnt a valuable fighting skill. Unfortunately, they need it sooner than they had anticipated.

Suddenly, the walls and mirrors of the Room of Requirement began to shake. The dust began to fall off of chandeliers and the students within the room began to fall from side to side, the jolting room throwing them off balance. Then, just as quickly as they had begun, the tremors stopped.

Feeling that he was responsible for the safety of the DA, Harry stepped forward to see what had happened, flanked by Colin Creevey, who would hardly pass up a chance to help Harry, no matter what the danger was. For a moment, everything was silent and still.

Then, out of nowhere, a quiet voice from the other side of the wall sent the brickwork shattering in all directions around them, knocking the group flying onto the floor.

By the time Merida had summoned the strength to raise her head, there was a group assembled by the gap in the wall, headed up by the dreaded Professor Umbridge. Unfortunately, within the huddle of Slytherins, which, judging by their badges, were members of the Inquisitorial Squad, stood a very familiar boy, clutching violently at the shoulders of Marietta Edgecombe, a shaking Ravenclaw girl who Merida vaguely remembered from previous DA meetings. The boy was Draco Malfoy.

Merida was struck dumb with astonishment, unable to believe what her eyes were seeing. After she had trusted him with one of the biggest secrets she kept, though not the primary one, of course, Draco had gone ahead and betrayed her regardless. '_I never thought that he would be so horrible, so evil, so… Slytherin. I guess that I must have been wrong.'_ she thought, a tear surfacing in her eye, though being blinked back violently, so that Umbridge and her Slytherins would not see her cry.

"Take them to my office." Umbridge instructed, the sweetness of her tone almost sickening for the young woman, who knew from her mother's complaints that the nicety the woman portrayed was utterly false.

The Slytherins obeyed the woman immediately, each running in to grab a member of the society. Merida winced as she saw the huge bully named Vincent Crabbe, the one who had started all the nonsense with Luna a few months previously. She closed her eyes, preparing for the harsh grip that would appear on her arms, but it never came. Instead, far gentler hands clasped her shoulders, tightly enough so that she would not fall, but loosely enough not to hurt her. A quick glance upwards told her that it was Draco.

To her upmost surprise, when the group turned to the right, en route to the woman's office, but the young man turned left instead. He went no further than around the corner before he stopped, releasing Merida's shoulders with a smile on his face. The smile was not reciprocated by the other.

"How could you do that? How could you betray me like that?" Merida exclaimed, the annoyance evident in her face. "I trusted you, Draco, and you lied."

"I didn't. I swear on my life, I didn't say anything. I would never do that to you." Draco responded, desperate for the redhead to believe him, something which was becoming more likely by the moment.

"Prove it." she told him, though she did not expect him to do so. Contrary to her expectations, the young Malfoy was desperate for forgiveness, and so he did all that he could think of to prove himself. He leant over to Merida, put his hands on her shoulders once again.

And pressed his lips to hers.

A/N: Please review!


	8. Giving in to Tears

Chapter Eight

A/N: Thanks to my great reviewers, and stephenmc.

One week after the incident in the Room of Requirement, the confusion Merida had experienced had not yet diminished.

The moment she had seen Draco stood beside Professor Umbridge, the young woman had been overwhelmed by pain, fear and a feeling of betrayal. He had become a part of the Inquisitorial Squad, sworn enemies of Dumbledore's Army, a fact that separated the pair of them further than even their Houses did, and had devoted his spare time to discovering the secrets of the society. Secrets that she had willingly told him of. '_Oh, I feel so stupid!'_ Merida cried in her mind, a single tear slipping down her face. '_To think that I could have entrusted a secret so important to a pure blooded Slytherin. It was the biggest mistake I could have made, and I've doomed us all now. I've just handed the entire DA over to Umbridge, and I didn't even put up a fight__.__'_

The young woman hit her head lightly against the doorframe of her Hogwarts bedroom after this thought passed through her mind, and continued to do so for at least half a minute, the force of the blows increasing with every six or so times her forehead collided with the wood. Unfortunately, the blows were soon loud enough to be heard, causing the door to open and a furious brunette to enter from behind it.

"Merida, what on earth are you doing?! It sounds like there's a trapped Boggart in here, looking for a means to escape! Why are you behaving like this? You know better." Professor McGonagall began the rant that was directed at her daughter the moment she walked in the door, the hands resting on her hips clearly signifying that she was not in a mood to be trifled with. For once in her life, Merida remained meek and silent, not arguing back to the woman, as she was so sorely tempted to do. "Well? Anything to say?"

"I'm sorry, Mum." she answered, to the woman's surprise. She had been expecting an argument, but it seemed that her daughter did not have the strength or wish to do so. "I've just been a little bit confused recently, about a lot of stuff. I don't really know who my friends are anymore."

Immediately, Minerva's features softened, the anger replaced quickly with mere concern. She moved to the edge of her daughter's bed and perched down on the edge of it, patting the cover of the blanket to signal for the young woman to sit down beside her, a signal she heeded after a moment.

Once she had sat down, Minerva immediately wrapped an arm around her young daughter, pulling the girl to rest against her side in an attempt to comfort her.

"What's the matter, Meri?" the woman asked, the tone of her voice completely different from the way it had been just a short minute ago, and the volume also much lower. '_Thank goodness for that.'_ Merida thought, smiling a little for just a moment. '_We would have had Dumbledore banging on the door telling us to be quiet.'_

"Nothing, really." she replied, as she lowered her head, suddenly defensive once again. Minerva sighed and shut the door. She was a little exasperated at her daughter's reaction, knowing that it would take a great deal of effort to make the girl open up to her again. However, unlike the countless times before, when she had just exited the room and left Merida alone, the woman decided that, this time, she would stay and listen to what the redhead had to say.

"Meri…" she began, evidently shocking the girl, as she started and gasped at the sound. She had obviously thought that her mother had left again. "Meri, I want you to tell me what's wrong with you."

"Mum, I've told you. It's nothing." Merida responded quickly, perhaps a little too quickly, a harsh tone in her voice. Still, Minerva continued, undeterred.

"Meri, please." she began, unable to keep a note of annoyance from her tone, as she was unable to keep the note of begging from it. "I am getting really worried about you. You never tell me anything anymore. Please, just let me know what the matter is with you. Please."

Despite her objections, her mind screaming that she was making a mistake, the redhead lifted her eyes from her lap, meeting her mother's tear filled gaze with her own. Feelings of guilt plagued her conscience, knowing that she was the one who had caused her mother's usual calm composure to fail.

"I kissed someone." she revealed, shocking the elder Gryffindor so much that her tears ceased in a moment. "I became friends with a boy, a Slytherin boy, when I was running away from… actually, that bit doesn't matter. But we had an argument, and we were fighting, and… we kissed."

To little surprise, especially for the younger, another lengthy silence followed. Minerva's expression did not change at all during this time, her mouth remained slightly agape and her features fixed in a state of perpetual confusion.

"Who was this boy?" the woman asked, after at least half a dozen minutes had passed. Merida hardly gave any indication that she had heard her question until she had glanced once around the room, an action which neither she nor her mother saw the point in, and which the latter viewed as a tactic of procrastination. "The one that has got you all confused."

"I really don't think you want to know." the adolescent responded, wincing a little as she did so, as she knew the reaction the professor would give before she had made the suggestion.

"Well, I do." she replied simply, in the sharp commanding tone she regularly used with misbehaving students. "So, tell me."

Merida drew in a deep breath. She could feel tears surface in her eyes as the details of the confession, the betrayal and the kiss came flooding back into her mind. Finally, she spoke.

"Draco Malfoy."

To say that Minerva was shocked by this result would be an utter understatement, but that was the least of her concerns at current. She would question her daughter about the matter in the morning, but for now, she pulled the girl to her chest and allowed her to cry the night away.

A/N: Slightly depressing, but I felt we needed a bit more Minnie. Please review!


	9. Rekindled Friendship

Chapter Nine

A/N: Thanks to stephanmc for the great encouragement.

Another term had passed, and life was now much better for Merida than it had been before. Her friends were supportive, she was no longer in trouble, bar the occasional incident, and she was completely content with her identity.

The only problem lately was something that was constantly bothering the girl, following her through the shadows and plaguing her with guilt. No, not something. Someone.

Over the past few weeks, even months, Draco Malfoy had been attempting to regain friendship with the young McGonagall, though he did not know her by such a name, as hardly anyone in the school did. And for the entirety of the term, Merida had been attempting to avoid the boy, for fear that he may succeed in doing so.

However, as the times went on and the pressure of their schoolwork grew, in anticipation of their OWL exams the next year, the redhead found it increasingly difficult to avoid the blonde, as due to the amount of homework being received by fourth and fifth years, both of them spent the majority of their free time in the school library, reading books and writing essays until they were thrown out by Madam Pince, because the clock had struck eleven without their noticing. And all the while, the two former best friends had not exchanged a single word.

However, that did not mean that they did not share glances. Every time Merida looked up from the old tome she was studying, most likely for History of Magic, as Professor Binns often gave them a mountain of homework to do, she caught Draco quickly look down at his parchment, knowing that he had been looking at her. Every time the boy glanced up, he felt exactly the same way.

By chance, one day, both glanced up at precisely the same time, their gaze meeting immediately. The first instinct of each of them was to turn away, but both found that they could not do it, as the other had not done. They held the gaze for a good few minutes, and could easily read the emotions in each other's eyes. In Draco's eyes, the young woman could see guilt, pleading, sorrow. In her's, he could only see disappointment and sadness, the very things that he had caused her to feel, though he had not committed the actions she had accused him of, and had a clear idea who had, a Ravenclaw named Marietta Edgecombe, something that the blonde was sure his former friend now knew. '_So why is she still holding it against me?'_ he thought.

On the table opposite, Merida was thinking of the same situation, wondering if it truly had been nothing to do with him in the end. '_After all,'_ she told herself. '_They had Marietta with them, and she has those scars on her face that say sneak. Perhaps Draco had nothing to do with it. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened.'_

Something deep within her heart, so deep that she could not control it, was telling her to go over to him, to accept his apology and to rekindle their friendship, but her mind was telling her not to do so, as if her common sense told her not to trust him, though whether this was due to the fact she had felt betrayed by him, or the prejudices that had been imbedded into her as a child growing up in a Gryffindor household, she was not quite sure. Still, she trusted her instincts and not her heart, as she found that in most cases, it was the most sensible course of actions, with minimal opportunity for further damage.

Her common sense taking over her mind, the young woman stood from her chair, bundling the pile of books under her arms and exiting the library, casting only a single glance towards the boy as she did so, one which he hardly had any time to respond to before she was out of the doorway and on her way back to the common room, the only place she could be certain that she would not be found by Draco.

However, as she ascended the cold stone steps of the Gryffindor tower, Merida's concentration slipped and the books slipped from her arms, tumbling down the staircase with a loud crack. She turned swiftly to catch them, a little too swiftly, as she lost her balance as well, and was a moment away from tumbling down the staircase.

But when she felt herself begin to fall, crying out in fear at what would happen, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from above, encircling her and keeping her from the fate that surely would have befallen her had the figure not been behind her. She turned her head to thank the young man, as she could feel from the musculature of his chest that it was a male who was her saviour, but paused immediately. She had half a mind to even move away from him, as her sense once again told her to do. But, for once in her life, she did not listen to herself.

"Be careful." her knight in shining armour told her, though Merida cringed at the thought of her addressing him as such, even if just in her own mind. She was no damsel in distress, after all. "These steps are dangerous, even for a born Gryffindor."

"Well, born Gryffindors don't need saving." she shot back, determined not to let her point go unnoticed.

"Perhaps they do not, but Slytherins always jump in where they are not needed, so that they can take all the glory. It's just the way we are." he replied to her, his signature smirk appearing on his chiselled features.

"I know that." she told him immediately, though with none of the harshness that had previously been a part of her tone when speaking to him, and before long, a smile appeared on her face to rival his own.

Perhaps snakes and lions could overcome prejudices and be friends, and perhaps they could not, but it was an idea that Draco and Merida were once again determined to prove.

A/N: Aww, rekindled friendship. Please review!


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